Boats having a stern compartment provided with at least one closing stern hatch of its own are known for a long time. Such a compartment is used, for instance, to house a small boat or a tender. It is also known that in the stern portion, many prestigious boats have a stern platform determined by a projecting plane suitable for operating as a “small beach” for the boat's passengers.
With reference to said hatch, it can be moved with the purpose of freeing or closing an aperture to access the stern compartment (from the sea or from the stern platform). For this purpose, actuating members are usually provided, usually in the form of telescopic members which constrain the body of the hatch to side walls of the stern compartment. This solution implies that, irrespective of whether the hatch is closed or open, such telescopic (pneumatic or hydraulic) members limit the internal space of the stern compartment. The hatch being open, conversely, they can be hitted against by those who occupy the craft, who might hurt themselves or in any case cause even non negligible physical damages to themselves.
Also, the presence of said telescopic actuating members makes the mounting of the hatch onto the aperture of the stern compartment a rather complex operation, in that it shall be performed through a number of successive steps, which include positioning the hatch and the actuating members locally, constraining the latter to the wall of the stern compartment and to the hatch body, and correctly adjusting the position of the latter with respect to the aperture of the stern compartment so as to allow an optimum closing.
Also add to this the fact that in the known solutions mentioned above the hatch and the walls of the compartment shall comprise hinge means and countermeans to allow the rotary motion (around said hinges) to open and close the hatch onto the compartment. Consequently, a need arises for associating hinge pins with the opposed sides of the hatch or with the walls of the compartment, such pins being suitable for being housed within seats provided for this purpose in said walls and sides. All of this requires non negligible times or difficulties, also considering that a hatch of the type under examination possibly features a surface of several square meters.
EP2305553, which forms the preamble of claim 1, describes a side service door for boats comprising shaped shutters applied at a boat compartment. Operation means are operatively connected to each shutter and are coupled with the hull of the boat; the above operation means are suitable to move each shutter between a rest position wherein the shutters close the compartment and a working position in which each shutter protrudes from the hull.
The operation means are externally located to each shutter at least when the shutter is in its working position.